First Leaf Imprint? Tarrant Woodbine

[Mikrogeophagus]

The last month has been a bit quiet for me in terms of fossils. Since school ended for the summer, I've been back in DFW and studying hard for an exam. Thankfully, when test day came, I managed to score well, granting me the time to finally research and take a trip out to a new spot!

 

For most of my life, I've been on top of the Woodbine Formation. I've never perceived it to be particularly fossiliferous as I have rarely come across anything when scouting the ground. However, seeing some of the posts on this forum has since reignited my curiosity about this formation. The Woodbine is a unique place in that it contains material from a coastal environment where terrestrial organisms could be preserved. This contrasts with all of my previous Cretaceous fossil hunting, which were all on nearby marine strata. While I like finding oceanic material, I also value variety and the idea of stumbling upon something unusual like a dino tooth is really exciting. So today, I decided to briefly explore the nearest Woodbine outcrop I could find!

 

I came into today's adventure with low hopes as I know the Woodbine can be unforgiving. Also, it was decently hot and I had forgotten to take my water bottle with me. Scattered here and there were little piles of red rock that I assume had just washed out from yesterday's rain. I spent most of my time getting fooled by little rusty scraps of metal (that reddish bronze color is too similar to the surrounding rock for my untrained eyes). Dehydration was close to pushing me to call it quits when I came across a strangely shaped piece of sandstone. Lots of the stones from this formation naturally exist in weird attention-catching shapes, but I noticed that this one had faint indentations resembling the veins of a leaf. I have never found a plant fossil before so I could easily be mistaking a strangely weathered piece of sandstone for something more than it is, but I am hopeful that this will be a couple personal firsts (my first plant and first terrestrial Mesozoic fossil). For any Woodbine experts... if this is a terrestrial plant, would it suggest that this site could produce dinosaur material? The "veins" are hard to capture on camera, but I think I've done as good a job as I can in the naturally lit photos below. It kinda looks like an oak leaf in my eyes. All insights are greatly appreciated!

 

 

Let me know if you have any additional questions!

 

Thanks for reading 

[piranha]

This monograph has a couple of look-alike possibilities. Laurophyllum precanariense (plate 15, fig. 1) might be the winner.

 

MacNeal, D.L. 1958. Flora of the Upper Cretaceous Woodbine Sand in Denton County, Texas.

Monographs of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 10:1-152  READ ONLINE

 

[Mikrogeophagus]

@piranha Wow that looks like a good match! Thanks for the thoughtful input as well as the literature! I'll definitely being reading through more of it.

[Lone Hunter]

7 hours ago, EPIKLULSXDDDDD said:

if this is a terrestrial plant, would it suggest that this site could produce dinosaur material?

I can completely empathize with you on Woodbine, hours and hours of walking and scouring and this is my only surface find, a partial gastropod. Ironically the majority of dinosaur fossils have been found in the Woodbine. Go figure 

[Mikrogeophagus]

11 hours ago, Lone Hunter said:

I can completely empathize with you on Woodbine, hours and hours of walking and scouring and this is my only surface find, a partial gastropod. Ironically the majority of dinosaur fossils have been found in the Woodbine. Go figure 

The Woodbine is a strange place. I've already come to terms that this barely visible leaf may very well be the best thing I'll ever find in it. In my opinion, however, the rarity and uniqueness of everything that comes out of the Woodbine makes up for the sunken time and iffy preservation... so don't give up hope. There's nothing stopping the next hunt from being the best one yet!